GOP: Reform is bad politics

Through the summer, congressional Republicans were able to stand back and let the health care debate play out around them — watching public support for the idea plummet amid bitter town halls and Democratic infighting.

But even now, as the odds grow that President Barack Obama will have a chance to sign a health reform bill, Republicans say they’re content to stick by that strategy — believing they can define the Democratic plan as a bad mix of higher premiums, more taxes and cuts to Medicare.

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And that, they believe, is a winning formula for them in 2010.

“If they pass this bill, I wouldn’t want to be a Democrat standing for reelection in 2010,” said Arizona Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.).

But the Republican strategy also carries clear risks — already opening up the GOP to criticism as the “party of no” from the White House and congressional Democrats. And it lays down the contours of the midterm races in sharp relief, helping to turn them into a referendum on Obama and his ambitious agenda on health reform and other issues.

Republicans also see a risk putting forth their own ideas in a process so tightly controlled by Democratic majorities in both houses, saying it would be an exercise in finding ways to pay for a hypothetical bill with hypothetical cuts or hypothetical taxes.

And that risks angering very real and important Republican constituencies in the process — anti-tax hawks, deficit fighters and others who believe Obama is contributing to a dangerous expansion of the government’s reach in health care and elsewhere.

There are signs that some Republicans believe the party needs an alternative to Democratic plans.

They acknowledge these stand-alone alternatives might not be enough in a showdown with Democrats. As evidence, Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are drafting legislation that party leaders could introduce as Democrats bring their own bill to the floor.

“I feel strongly that we ought to do something,” said Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany, a Republican on the committee whom party leaders tapped to deliver the rebuttal to Obama earlier this fall. “Hopefully, we can rally around some major proposal.”

But for the most part, Republicans are pressing daily the message about the dangers of Obama-style reform as a lineup of senators parade to the floor and deliver speeches — a level of coordination that is meant to convey strength and unity of opposition among the Senate GOP. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been speaking almost every day since the summer on health care.

“We knew this proposal would raise taxes. We knew it would slash Medicare. Now we know it will raise health insurance premiums,” McConnell said on Monday. “Americans support reform. But higher premiums, higher taxes and cutting Medicare — that’s not reform.”

McConnell added another talking point Monday, criticizing Democrats for pushing ahead with a $247 billion plan to fix the Medicare reimbursement formula for physicians without paying for it.

But for Democrats, this is all more of the same from a party that has been unwilling to work with the majority all year.

“When it comes to health insurance reform, Republicans are indeed the ‘party of no,’” said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. “But when it comes to protecting the health insurance industry, with its practice of denying Americans health care, raising premiums on the middle class and bankrupting families, the Republican Party is definitely the ‘party of yes.’”

Still, another aspect of the GOP strategy is seeking delays — or, from the Republican standpoint, adequate time to deliberate.